We Don't See Mainframes as Legacy Technology
Half-century milestone for IBM mainframes, by Mark Ward at BBC News (April 7th, 2014)
Most interesting about the passage below, is that they’re referring to mainframes right now, not 50 years ago.
"I don't think people realise how often during the day they interact with a mainframe," he said.
Mr Heptonstall said mainframes were behind many of the big information systems that keep the modern world humming and handled such things as airline reservations, cash machine withdrawals and credit card payments.
The machines were very good at doing small-scale transactions, such as adding or taking figures away from bank balances, over and over again, he said.
"We don't see mainframes as legacy technology," said Charlie Ewen, chief information officer at the Met Office, which has been using mainframes for 40 years.
(Originally published on my old site, “The Digital Imaginary” [imaginary.digital], on March 27th, 2015 – revised and republished March 30th, 2025.)